Yes, You Absolutely Should Start A New Hobby

..unless you're going to bankrupt yourself over it.

Do keep it light on the financial side. I am saying this with love and a yarn stash worth several hundreds of dollars hidden away in my craft room.

I crocheted for several years and made tiny monsters out of yarn. I got into hand lettering and would shove index cards with pastel blessings on them at anyone who'd take one. I messed around with watercolors, started (and failed at) a garden on my balcony, made little bugs out of beads and wire, wrote poems, artfully decorated my journal pages, and sewed a few skirts and a pair of PJ bottoms. With pockets!

Now, I am writing, recording music, and still making the occasional mandala.

Origami sounds fascinating, too!

I used to beat myself up every time I let one of my hobbies fall by the wayside because I had snatched up something new. I had internalized this story of "you can't stick to things, you always give up" and it made me feel bad big time.

The main reason I felt so bad was that, like any well-indoctrinated productive member of this crazy world, I thought that my hobbies had to be "useful and productive". I don't know how many "craft businesses" I came up with just to justify my newest hobby because Ford forbid I’d step off the assembly line for a second.

The thing is, you're allowed to do things just because they're fun.

What's more, doing so is extremely good for your mental health.

I crocheted and mandala'ed my way through several year's worth of things that would otherwise have required much more therapy than I got for them. (Aside: yes, go to therapy. No, crafting is not a substitute. Why not do both?).

I worked out the big and small things that were going on. I completed "just stitch after stitch" mediations that ended with some serious peace, and I now have a documented journey in yarn, paper, and color.

Sometimes, starting a new hobby can help you feel your way out of a dry spell—both creatively and productivity-wise. If a lack of success in one area drags you down, the swift progress you make at the beginning of learning something new can lift you up. I believe completing the massive crochet comforter that still sits on my bed taught me more about persistence than any class or book I ever read.

Also, you never know what sticks. Perhaps, somewhere in the jumble of new skills, there is a passion. Or at least a handy skill. I still use my calligraphy skills when I send thank you notes or get-well-cards and I feel very elegant when I pull out my nice fountain pen.

I still use my writing every day.

I still make things.

Come to think of it, all of my "little hobbies" have stuck in one way or another.

I can make little monsters out of yarn and finally shorten the curtains.

How cool!